Clean Air Act Grant; Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District; Opportunity for Public Hearing, 40975-40977 [2021-15843]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 144 / Friday, July 30, 2021 / Proposed Rules
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
I. Introduction
On July 22, 2021, the Postal Service
filed a petition pursuant to 39 CFR
3050.11 requesting that the Commission
initiate a rulemaking proceeding to
consider changes to analytical
principles relating to periodic reports.1
The Petition identifies the proposed
analytical changes filed in this docket as
Proposal Four.
II. Proposal Four
Background. The Postal Service
currently develops the distribution
factors used for the Special Purpose
Route (SPR) city carrier cost pools based
on manual data collection through the
City Carrier Costing System SPR
subsystem (CCCS–SPR). The
Commission approved the use of this
subsystem in Order No. 339, and it has
been used each year since FY 2009.2
Proposal. With Proposal Four, the
Postal Service seeks to replace the
CCCS–SPR subsystem with a new
system called the Special Purpose
Carrier Cost System (SPCCS). The Postal
Service cites two objectives for this new
system: ‘‘to replace manual sampling
with scan data from Product Tracking
and Reporting (PTR) combined with the
clock rings from the Time and
Attendance Collection System (TACS)’’
and to ‘‘separate the weekday SPR cost
pool into peak and non-peak pools and
provide separate distribution factors for
each cost pool.’’ Petition, Proposal Four
at 2.
With respect to the first objective, the
Postal Service plans to use PTR delivery
scans that occur within time blocks
when a city carrier is clocked to
Management Operating Data System
(MODS) Operating Codes specific to
Special Purpose Routes. Id. The Postal
Service proposes to use a sample of time
blocks ‘‘[d]ue to the disproportionate
resources required to obtain a complete
nationwide census.’’ Id.
Regarding the second objective, the
Postal Service proposes to disaggregate
the volume variabilities used for the
SPR Monday through Saturday cost pool
in order to create separate non-peak and
peak weekday SPR cost pools. Id. at 3.
The Postal Service also proposes annual
updates to the hours used to weight the
new weekday non-peak SPR cost pool
variabilities. Id.
Impact. The impacts of Proposal Four
are outlined in Table 1 of the proposal.
1 Petition
of the United States Postal Service for
the Initiation of a Proceeding to Consider Proposed
Changes in Analytical Principles (Proposal Four),
July 22, 2021 (Petition).
2 See Docket No. RM2009–10, Order on
Analytical Principles Used in Periodic Reporting
(Proposals Three through Nineteen), November 13,
2009 (Order No. 339); Petition, Proposal Four at 1.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
21:28 Jul 29, 2021
Jkt 253001
Id. at 7. The most significant change in
unit costs is a decrease of $0.1743 for
Collect on Delivery Service. Id. The unit
cost of USPS Marketing Mail Parcels
would increase by $0.0151, from $0.238
to $0.254 per unit. Id. The unit cost for
total domestic market dominant services
would decrease by $0.0144 per unit. Id.
III. Notice and Comment
The Commission establishes Docket
No. RM2021–7 for consideration of
matters raised by the Petition. More
information on the Petition may be
accessed via the Commission’s website
at https://www.prc.gov. Interested
persons may submit comments on the
Petition and Proposal Four no later than
August 23, 2021. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C.
505, Manon Boudreault is designated as
an officer of the Commission (Public
Representative) to represent the
interests of the general public in this
proceeding.
IV. Ordering Paragraph
It is ordered:
1. The Commission establishes Docket
No. RM2021–7 for consideration of the
matters raised by the Petition of the
United States Postal Service for the
Initiation of a Proceeding to Consider
Proposed Changes in Analytical
Principles (Proposal Four), filed July 22,
2021.
2. Comments by interested persons in
this proceeding are due no later than
August 23, 2021.
3. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, the
Commission appoints Manon
Boudreault to serve as an officer of the
Commission (Public Representative) to
represent the interests of the general
public in this docket.
4. The Secretary shall arrange for
publication of this Order in the Federal
Register.
By the Commission.
Erica A. Barker,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–16294 Filed 7–29–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710–FW–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 35
[EPA–R09–OAR–2021–0359; FRL–8699–01–
R9]
Clean Air Act Grant; Santa Barbara
County Air Pollution Control District;
Opportunity for Public Hearing
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notification; proposed
determination with request for
AGENCY:
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
40975
comments and notice of opportunity for
public hearing.
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is proposing to determine
that the reduction in expenditures of
non-Federal funds for the Santa Barbara
County Air Pollution Control District
(SBCAPCD) in support of its continuing
air program under section 105 of the
Clean Air Act (CAA), for the calendar
year 2020 are a result of non-selective
reductions in expenditures. This
determination, when final, will permit
the SBCAPCD to receive grant funding
for fiscal year (FY) 2021 from the EPA
under section 105 of the CAA.
SUMMARY:
Comments and/or requests for a
public hearing must be received by the
EPA at the address stated below on or
before August 30, 2021.
DATES:
Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R09–
OAR–2021–0359 at https://
www.regulations.gov. For comments
submitted at Regulations.gov, follow the
online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments
cannot be edited or removed from
Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish
any comment received to its public
docket. Do not submit electronically any
information you consider to be
Proprietary Business Information (PBI)
or Confidential Business Information
(CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute.
Multimedia submissions (audio, video,
etc.) must be accompanied by a written
comment. The written comment is
considered the official comment and
should include discussion of all points
you wish to make. The EPA will
generally not consider comments or
comment contents located outside of the
primary submission (i.e. on the web,
cloud, or other file sharing system). For
additional submission methods, please
contact the person identified in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
For the full EPA public comment policy,
information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on
making effective comments, please visit
https://www.epa.gov/dockets/
commenting-epa-dockets. If you need
assistance in a language other than
English or if you are a person with
disabilities who needs a reasonable
accommodation at no cost to you, please
contact the person identified in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Angela Latigue, EPA Region IX, Grants
and Program Integration Office, Air
Division, 75 Hawthorne Street, San
Francisco, CA 94105; phone at (415)
E:\FR\FM\30JYP1.SGM
30JYP1
40976
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 144 / Friday, July 30, 2021 / Proposed Rules
947–4170 or email address at
latigue.angela@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section
105 of the CAA provides grant funding
for the continuing air programs of
eligible state, local, and tribal agencies.
In accordance with 40 CFR 35.145(a),
the Regional Administrator may provide
air pollution control agencies up to
three-fifths of the approved costs of
implementing programs for the
prevention and control of air pollution.
CAA Section 105 grants require a cost
share (also referred to as a match
requirement) and a maintenance of
effort (MOE). An eligible agency must
meet a minimum 40% match. In
addition, to remain eligible for section
105 funds, an eligible agency must meet
an MOE requirement under section
105(c)(1) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405.
Program activities relevant to the
match consist of both recurring and
non-recurring (unique, one-time only)
expenses. The MOE provision requires
that a state or local agency spend at least
the same dollar level of funds as it did
in the previous grant year, but only for
the costs of recurring activities.
Specifically, section 105(c)(1) of the
CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(1), provides
that, ‘‘No agency shall receive any grant
under this section during any fiscal year
when its expenditures of non-Federal
funds for recurrent expenditures for air
pollution control programs will be less
than its expenditures were for such
programs during the preceding fiscal
year.’’ However, pursuant to CAA
section 105(c)(2), 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(2),
the EPA may still award a grant to an
agency not meeting the requirements of
section 105(c)(1), ‘‘. . . if the
Administrator, after notice and
opportunity for public hearing,
determines that a reduction in
expenditures is attributable to a nonselective reduction in the expenditures
in the programs of all Executive branch
agencies of the applicable unit of
Government.’’ These statutory
requirements are repeated in the EPA’s
implementing regulations at 40 CFR
35.140–35.148. The EPA issued
additional guidance to recipients on
what constitutes a nonselective
reduction on September 30, 2011. In
consideration of legislative history, the
Actual
FFY 17–18
Actual
FFY 18–19
Grant Revenues ...........................
Services and Supplies .................
Salaries and Benefits ...................
Funded Full Time Equivalents .....
$594,385
$3,547,624.73
$5,306,547.86
43
$2,694,441.77
$3,731,165.03
$5,751,339.84
37
Program Cost ...............................
EPA Funding ................................
$6,776,864
$497,683
$8,551,345
$508,027
Description
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
guidance clarified that a non-selective
reduction does not necessarily mean
that each Executive branch agency
needs to be reduced in equal proportion.
However, it must be clear to the EPA,
from the weight of evidence, that a
recipient’s CAA-related air program is
not being disproportionately impacted
or singled out for a reduction.
A section 105 grant recipient must
submit a final federal financial report no
later than 90 days from the close of its
grant period that documents all of its
federal and non-federal expenditures for
the completed period. The recipient
seeking an adjustment to its MOE for
that period must provide the rationale
and the documentation necessary to
enable the EPA to determine that a
nonselective reduction has occurred. In
order to expedite that determination, the
recipient must provide details of the
budget action and the comparative fiscal
impacts on all the jurisdiction’s
executive branch agencies, the recipient
agency itself, and the agency’s air
program. The recipient should identify
any executive branch agencies or
programs that should be excepted from
comparison and explain why. The
recipient must provide evidence that the
air program is not being singled out for
a reduction or being disproportionately
reduced. Documentation in key areas
will be needed: Budget data specific to
the recipient’s air program, and
comparative budget data between the
recipient’s air program, the agency
containing the air program, and the
other executive branch agencies. The
EPA may also request information from
the recipient about how impacts on its
program operations will affect its ability
to meet its CAA obligations and
requirements; and documentation that
explains the cause of the reduction,
such as legislative changes or the
issuance of a new executive order.
In fiscal year (FY) 2020, the EPA
awarded the SBCAPCD $519,277, which
represented approximately 7% of the
SBCAPCD budget. In FY2021, the EPA
intends to award the SBCAPCD
approximately $522,315, which
represents approximately 7% of the
SBCAPCD budget.
SBCAPCD’s final federal financial
report for FY2019 indicated that
VerDate Sep<11>2014
21:28 Jul 29, 2021
Jkt 253001
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 4702
SBCAPCD’s MOE level was $8,551,345.
SBCAPCD’s final federal financial report
for FY2020 indicates that SBCAPCD’s
MOE level is at $7,890,365. The reduced
MOE is not sufficient to meet the MOE
requirements under the CAA Section
105 because it is not equal to or greater
than the MOE for the previous fiscal
year.
In order for the SBCAPCD to be
eligible to receive its FY2021 CAA
section 105 grant, the EPA must make
a determination (after notice and an
opportunity for a public hearing) that
the reduction in expenditures is
attributable to a non-selective reduction
in the expenditures in the programs of
the SBCAPCD.
The SBCAPCD is a single-purpose air
pollution control agency. It is the unit
of government for CAA section 105(c)(2)
purposes.
On March 25, 2021, the SBCAPCD
submitted a request to the EPA seeking
a reduction for the required MOE for
FY2020. The SBCAPCD explained that
it was unable to meet its MOE
requirement due in large part to a
budget increase of 21.1% from passthrough monies from the California Air
Resources Board (CARB) for multiple
state projects. The State Legislature,
through the budget adoption process,
placed a strong emphasis on the use of
funding for voluntary emission
reduction programs through the network
of local air districts. This action resulted
in a total of over $2.7 million for Santa
Barbara County projects in FY2019–
2020, a 21.1% budget increase received
from the previous fiscal year. These
funds were used to continue expanding
the reach of the grant programs initiated
in FY2018–2019, including the Carl
Moyer program, Community Air
Protection legislation (AB617), the
Funding Agricultural Replacement
Measures for Emissions Reductions
(FARMER) program, and the Wood
Smoke Reduction program. In addition,
the District experienced a significant
reduction in filling vacant positions due
to the conditions caused by the COVID–
19 pandemic. The following table
illustrates the District’s actual
expenditures from Federal Fiscal Years
(FFY) 2017 through 2020.
Actual
FFY 18–19
Actual
FFY 19–20
$2,100,056.77
$183,540.30
$444,791.98
¥6
$2,694,441.77
$3,731,165.03
$5,751,339.84
37
$2,421,089.07
$4,494,987.02
$5,915,694.33
36
¥$273,352.70
$763,821.99
$164,354.49
¥1
N/A
N/A
$8,551,345
$508,027
$7,890,365
$519,277
N/A
N/A
Difference
Sfmt 4702
E:\FR\FM\30JYP1.SGM
30JYP1
Difference
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 144 / Friday, July 30, 2021 / Proposed Rules
Actual
FFY 17–18
Description
Difference
Actual
FFY 18–19
Actual
FFY 19–20
Difference
Non-Recurrent Expenses .............
$1,925,596
$1,986,234
$60,638
$1,986,234
$3,349,440
$1,363,206
Total Program Cost ..............
$9,200,143
$11,045,606
N/A
$11,045,606
$11,759,083
N/A
$34,940
$1,774,481
..........................
$1,774,481
¥$660,979
..........................
Amount Over/Under MOE Goal *
The request for a reset of SBCAPCD’s
MOE meets the requirements for a nonselective reduction determination. The
SBCAPCD’s MOE reduction resulted
from a loss of revenues due to a
significant cut back on expenditures
caused by the current COVID–19
pandemic, the inability to fill vacant
positions created by retirements, and
the addition of State funding for grant
pass-throughs, which increased the
SBCAPCD’s grant non-recurring activity.
The EPA proposes to determine that
the SBCAPCD lower the FY2020 MOE
level to $7,790,365 to meet the CAA
section 105(c)(2) criteria as it resulted
from a non-selective reduction of
expenditures.
This notice constitutes a request for
public comment and an opportunity for
public hearing as required by the CAA.
All written comments received by
August 30, 2021 on this proposal will be
considered. The EPA will conduct a
public hearing on this proposal only if
a written request for such is received by
the EPA by August 30, 2021. If no
written request for a hearing is received,
the EPA will proceed to the final
determination. While notice of the final
determination will not be published in
the Federal Register, copies of the
determination can be obtained by
sending a written request to Angela
Latigue at the above address.
Dated: July 8, 2021.
Elizabeth Adams,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2021–15843 Filed 7–29–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R07–OAR–2021–0360; FRL–8707–01–
R7]
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Actual
FFY 18–19
40977
Air Plan Approval; Approval of
Missouri Air Quality Implementation
Plans; Revisions to St. Louis 2008 8Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
21:28 Jul 29, 2021
Jkt 253001
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a
State Implementation Plan (SIP)
revision submitted by the State of
Missouri on November 12, 2019,
revising the 2008 8-hour ozone
maintenance plan previously approved
by EPA on September 20, 2018,
demonstrating continued maintenance
of the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air
Quality Standard (NAAQS), the 1979 1Hour and 1997 8-Hour ozone standards
in the St. Louis area. This revision states
that the St. Louis area no longer needs
to rely on the Inspection and
Maintenance (I/M) program, and
Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) for
continued maintenance throughout the
maintenance period for the 2008 8-Hour
ozone NAAQS, the 1979 1-Hour ozone
NAAQS and 1997 8-Hour ozone
NAAQS. EPA is proposing to determine
that this revision meets the
requirements of the Clean Air Act.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before August 30, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R07–
OAR–2021–0360 to https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the Docket ID No. for this
rulemaking. Comments received will be
posted without change to https://
www.regulations.gov/, including any
personal information provided. For
detailed instructions on sending
comments and additional information
on the rulemaking process, see the
‘‘Written Comments’’ heading of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Steven Brown, Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 7 Office, Air
Quality Planning Branch, 11201 Renner
Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219;
telephone number: (913) 551–7718;
email address: brown.steven@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Throughout this document ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’
and ‘‘our’’ refer to the EPA.
SUMMARY:
Table of Contents
I. Written Comments
II. What is being addressed in this document?
III. Have the requirements for approval of a
SIP revision been met?
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
IV. What action is the EPA taking?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Written Comments
Submit your comments, identified by
Docket ID No. EPA–R07–OAR–2021–
0360, at https://www.regulations.gov.
Once submitted, comments cannot be
edited or removed from Regulations.gov.
The EPA may publish any comment
received to its public docket. Do not
submit electronically any information
you consider to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other
information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Multimedia
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be
accompanied by a written comment.
The written comment is considered the
official comment and should include
discussion of all points you wish to
make. The EPA will generally not
consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary
submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or
other file sharing system). For
additional submission methods, the full
EPA public comment policy,
information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on
making effective comments, please visit
https://www.epa.gov/dockets/
commenting-epa-dockets.
II. What is being addressed in this
document?
The EPA is proposing to approve SIP
revisions submitted by the State of
Missouri on November 12, 2019,
revising the 2008 8-hour ozone
maintenance plan previously approved
on September 20, 2018 (83 FR 47572).
This SIP revision demonstrates
continued maintenance of the 2008 8Hour ozone NAAQS, the 1979 1-Hour
ozone NAAQS and 1997 8-Hour ozone
NAAQS in the St. Louis area through
the future year of 2030. Since the 2008
ozone standard is more stringent than
the 1979 and 1997 ozone standards, and
the boundary area for all three
designations are identical, Missouri is
requesting through this SIP revision to
also replace the previously approved
maintenance plans under those older
standards. The maintenance boundary
for these three standards includes the
Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson,
E:\FR\FM\30JYP1.SGM
30JYP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 144 (Friday, July 30, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 40975-40977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-15843]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 35
[EPA-R09-OAR-2021-0359; FRL-8699-01-R9]
Clean Air Act Grant; Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control
District; Opportunity for Public Hearing
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notification; proposed determination with request for comments
and notice of opportunity for public hearing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
determine that the reduction in expenditures of non-Federal funds for
the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (SBCAPCD) in
support of its continuing air program under section 105 of the Clean
Air Act (CAA), for the calendar year 2020 are a result of non-selective
reductions in expenditures. This determination, when final, will permit
the SBCAPCD to receive grant funding for fiscal year (FY) 2021 from the
EPA under section 105 of the CAA.
DATES: Comments and/or requests for a public hearing must be received
by the EPA at the address stated below on or before August 30, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2021-0359 at https://www.regulations.gov. For comments submitted at
Regulations.gov, follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from
Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public
docket. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be
Proprietary Business Information (PBI) or Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted
by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be
accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the
official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish
to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e. on the web,
cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission
methods, please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section. For the full EPA public comment policy,
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance
on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. If you need assistance in a language other than
English or if you are a person with disabilities who needs a reasonable
accommodation at no cost to you, please contact the person identified
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Angela Latigue, EPA Region IX, Grants
and Program Integration Office, Air Division, 75 Hawthorne Street, San
Francisco, CA 94105; phone at (415)
[[Page 40976]]
947-4170 or email address at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 105 of the CAA provides grant
funding for the continuing air programs of eligible state, local, and
tribal agencies. In accordance with 40 CFR 35.145(a), the Regional
Administrator may provide air pollution control agencies up to three-
fifths of the approved costs of implementing programs for the
prevention and control of air pollution. CAA Section 105 grants require
a cost share (also referred to as a match requirement) and a
maintenance of effort (MOE). An eligible agency must meet a minimum 40%
match. In addition, to remain eligible for section 105 funds, an
eligible agency must meet an MOE requirement under section 105(c)(1) of
the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405.
Program activities relevant to the match consist of both recurring
and non-recurring (unique, one-time only) expenses. The MOE provision
requires that a state or local agency spend at least the same dollar
level of funds as it did in the previous grant year, but only for the
costs of recurring activities. Specifically, section 105(c)(1) of the
CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(1), provides that, ``No agency shall receive any
grant under this section during any fiscal year when its expenditures
of non-Federal funds for recurrent expenditures for air pollution
control programs will be less than its expenditures were for such
programs during the preceding fiscal year.'' However, pursuant to CAA
section 105(c)(2), 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(2), the EPA may still award a
grant to an agency not meeting the requirements of section 105(c)(1),
``. . . if the Administrator, after notice and opportunity for public
hearing, determines that a reduction in expenditures is attributable to
a non-selective reduction in the expenditures in the programs of all
Executive branch agencies of the applicable unit of Government.'' These
statutory requirements are repeated in the EPA's implementing
regulations at 40 CFR 35.140-35.148. The EPA issued additional guidance
to recipients on what constitutes a nonselective reduction on September
30, 2011. In consideration of legislative history, the guidance
clarified that a non-selective reduction does not necessarily mean that
each Executive branch agency needs to be reduced in equal proportion.
However, it must be clear to the EPA, from the weight of evidence, that
a recipient's CAA-related air program is not being disproportionately
impacted or singled out for a reduction.
A section 105 grant recipient must submit a final federal financial
report no later than 90 days from the close of its grant period that
documents all of its federal and non-federal expenditures for the
completed period. The recipient seeking an adjustment to its MOE for
that period must provide the rationale and the documentation necessary
to enable the EPA to determine that a nonselective reduction has
occurred. In order to expedite that determination, the recipient must
provide details of the budget action and the comparative fiscal impacts
on all the jurisdiction's executive branch agencies, the recipient
agency itself, and the agency's air program. The recipient should
identify any executive branch agencies or programs that should be
excepted from comparison and explain why. The recipient must provide
evidence that the air program is not being singled out for a reduction
or being disproportionately reduced. Documentation in key areas will be
needed: Budget data specific to the recipient's air program, and
comparative budget data between the recipient's air program, the agency
containing the air program, and the other executive branch agencies.
The EPA may also request information from the recipient about how
impacts on its program operations will affect its ability to meet its
CAA obligations and requirements; and documentation that explains the
cause of the reduction, such as legislative changes or the issuance of
a new executive order.
In fiscal year (FY) 2020, the EPA awarded the SBCAPCD $519,277,
which represented approximately 7% of the SBCAPCD budget. In FY2021,
the EPA intends to award the SBCAPCD approximately $522,315, which
represents approximately 7% of the SBCAPCD budget.
SBCAPCD's final federal financial report for FY2019 indicated that
SBCAPCD's MOE level was $8,551,345. SBCAPCD's final federal financial
report for FY2020 indicates that SBCAPCD's MOE level is at $7,890,365.
The reduced MOE is not sufficient to meet the MOE requirements under
the CAA Section 105 because it is not equal to or greater than the MOE
for the previous fiscal year.
In order for the SBCAPCD to be eligible to receive its FY2021 CAA
section 105 grant, the EPA must make a determination (after notice and
an opportunity for a public hearing) that the reduction in expenditures
is attributable to a non-selective reduction in the expenditures in the
programs of the SBCAPCD.
The SBCAPCD is a single-purpose air pollution control agency. It is
the unit of government for CAA section 105(c)(2) purposes.
On March 25, 2021, the SBCAPCD submitted a request to the EPA
seeking a reduction for the required MOE for FY2020. The SBCAPCD
explained that it was unable to meet its MOE requirement due in large
part to a budget increase of 21.1% from pass-through monies from the
California Air Resources Board (CARB) for multiple state projects. The
State Legislature, through the budget adoption process, placed a strong
emphasis on the use of funding for voluntary emission reduction
programs through the network of local air districts. This action
resulted in a total of over $2.7 million for Santa Barbara County
projects in FY2019-2020, a 21.1% budget increase received from the
previous fiscal year. These funds were used to continue expanding the
reach of the grant programs initiated in FY2018-2019, including the
Carl Moyer program, Community Air Protection legislation (AB617), the
Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emissions Reductions
(FARMER) program, and the Wood Smoke Reduction program. In addition,
the District experienced a significant reduction in filling vacant
positions due to the conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The
following table illustrates the District's actual expenditures from
Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 2017 through 2020.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actual FFY 17- Actual FFY 18- Actual FFY 18- Actual FFY 19-
Description 18 19 Difference 19 20 Difference
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grant Revenues.................................... $594,385 $2,694,441.77 $2,100,056.77 $2,694,441.77 $2,421,089.07 -$273,352.70
Services and Supplies............................. $3,547,624.73 $3,731,165.03 $183,540.30 $3,731,165.03 $4,494,987.02 $763,821.99
Salaries and Benefits............................. $5,306,547.86 $5,751,339.84 $444,791.98 $5,751,339.84 $5,915,694.33 $164,354.49
Funded Full Time Equivalents...................... 43 37 -6 37 36 -1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Program Cost...................................... $6,776,864 $8,551,345 N/A $8,551,345 $7,890,365 N/A
EPA Funding....................................... $497,683 $508,027 N/A $508,027 $519,277 N/A
[[Page 40977]]
Non-Recurrent Expenses............................ $1,925,596 $1,986,234 $60,638 $1,986,234 $3,349,440 $1,363,206
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Program Cost............................ $9,200,143 $11,045,606 N/A $11,045,606 $11,759,083 N/A
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amount Over/Under MOE Goal *...................... $34,940 $1,774,481 ............... $1,774,481 -$660,979 ...............
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The request for a reset of SBCAPCD's MOE meets the requirements for
a non-selective reduction determination. The SBCAPCD's MOE reduction
resulted from a loss of revenues due to a significant cut back on
expenditures caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic, the inability to
fill vacant positions created by retirements, and the addition of State
funding for grant pass-throughs, which increased the SBCAPCD's grant
non-recurring activity.
The EPA proposes to determine that the SBCAPCD lower the FY2020 MOE
level to $7,790,365 to meet the CAA section 105(c)(2) criteria as it
resulted from a non-selective reduction of expenditures.
This notice constitutes a request for public comment and an
opportunity for public hearing as required by the CAA. All written
comments received by August 30, 2021 on this proposal will be
considered. The EPA will conduct a public hearing on this proposal only
if a written request for such is received by the EPA by August 30,
2021. If no written request for a hearing is received, the EPA will
proceed to the final determination. While notice of the final
determination will not be published in the Federal Register, copies of
the determination can be obtained by sending a written request to
Angela Latigue at the above address.
Dated: July 8, 2021.
Elizabeth Adams,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2021-15843 Filed 7-29-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
